is 50L the best 50mm lens for canon cameras?

or is there one better? (can be third party)

Lets say for now, price isn't an issue.. which 50mm lens is the best overall lens (IQ, Sharpness etc.) for Canon DSLR's?

If you like 50mm maybe. But there is no one best lens.

Sigma 50 or 50L - both have their pros and cons. If you can find a good copy of the Sigma, I'd say that's a heck of a deal. I've played with a friend's Sigma and it was a joy. But I didn't wanna play the Sigma lottery and ended up with the 50L (after owning the Canon 1.8 and 1.4). No regrets.

Most 50L owners will tell you that pixel peepers will not be satisfied with the sharpness of the 50L, and I would probably agree. But I'm not a pixel peeper and the 50L does wonderfully for me.

I happen to have a very sharp copy of the 50mm f/1.4. I pixel peep and my copy passes my test with flying colors.

v35skyline wrote in post #14846431
Sigma 50 or 50L - both have their pros and cons. If you can find a good copy of the Sigma, I'd say that's a heck of a deal. I've played with a friend's Sigma and it was a joy. But I didn't wanna play the Sigma lottery and ended up with the 50L (after owning the Canon 1.8 and 1.4). No regrets.

Most 50L owners will tell you that pixel peepers will not be satisfied with the sharpness of the 50L, and I would probably agree. But I'm not a pixel peeper and the 50L does wonderfully for me.

I don't feel that it is just the 50L. I can't speak for anything but Canon lenses but the 3 50mm lenses canon makes are all soft wide open.

kur1j wrote in post #14846443
but the 3 50mm lenses canon makes are all soft wide open.

What about the F1.0 and the F2.5? That makes 5.

I am looking to compliment my Sigma 50 with Zeiss 50 MP soon...

Zeiss wins hands down in terms of IQ and sharpness, as long as you don't mind MF.

I love my 50L, it may not be the sharpest prime out there. But the dreamy bokeh is magical.

5W0L3 wrote in post #14846379
or is there one better? (can be third party)

Lets say for now, price isn't an issue.. which 50mm lens is the best overall lens (IQ, Sharpness etc.) for Canon DSLR's?

Something from Leica or Zeiss maybe?

== is 50L the best 50mm lens for canon cameras? ==

No, it isn't.

Chet wrote in post #14846457
What about the F1.0 and the F2.5? That makes 5.

Canon doesn't make the F1.0 any longer, but from my understanding it is not very sharp either.

Despite its price and large maximum aperture, the 1.0L was not a particularly sharp lens at any aperture, and the two cheaper 50mm options offered far better sharpness when stopped down beyond about f/2.8.[8] This, combined with the high production cost and low sales volume, led to it being discontinued in 2000 and eventually superseded by the f/1.2 edition.
http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Canon_EF_50mm_l​ens

The 50mm F2.5 is a macro lens so I was not referencing that lens in particular. Just the 3 normal prime 50mm lenses canon currently makes. I would say that the 50mm is sharper than say the 50mm 1.2/1.4 wide open but stopping the 50mm 1.2/1.4 down to 2.5 or so and the 50mm 1.2/1.4 are actually sharper than the 50mm macro.

Now comparing the 50mm macro @ 2.8 vs the 100mm macro wide open 2.8 and the 50mm isn't even in the same ballpark.

Leica 50mm f/0.95

Zeiss 50mm f2:0 Makro Planar. Sharp wide open, awesome bokeh. I've had both Sigma and Canon 50's and I've found the Zeiss to be outstanding. Just not using this focal length much so mine's up for sale

I bought Sigma 50mm and I was not very impressed to it's softness at wider end. I sold it and bought Zeiss 50mm f2 MP. Zeiss is totally from a different world (as the price is also:rolleyes So if AF it not absolutely necessary CZ 50mm MP is worth to consider.

ZeroSkylineX wrote in post #14846506
Leica 50mm f/0.95

For Canon EF-M it could work, for EF and EF-S only for near objects.

What about the Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.2?
It is not exactly 50mm, and need mount conversion. But it has no aspherical elements -Y smoother bokeh. I love mine